No federal standard of identity
Frozen yogurt has no U.S. standard of identity. The federal rules for frozen desserts sit in 21 CFR part 135, and that part has no section for frozen yogurt. Yogurt has its own federal standard, 21 CFR 131.200, but that standard does not cover frozen yogurt.
Ice cream is different. Under 21 CFR 135.110, ice cream must contain at least 10% milkfat, with 8% as the floor when bulky flavors such as chocolate, fruit or nuts are added. It must also weigh at least 4.5 pounds per gallon. Frozen yogurt has no matching federal floor for fat, solids, weight or cultures.
The University of Guelph’s Ice Cream Technology e-Book, by H. Douglas Goff, says frozen yogurt is unstandardized in many legal jurisdictions. It suggests that frozen yogurt should at least carry live culture and developed acidity.
Two states, two definitions
Some states fill the gap themselves. New Jersey and South Dakota both define frozen yogurt, and their rules do not match.
New Jersey’s rule, N.J.A.C. 8:21-7.7, says frozen yogurt:
- is frozen while stirred, from a mix whose dairy ingredients are pasteurized
- has all or part of its dairy cultured with a live culture containing Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus
- has at least 3.25% milkfat and 8.25% milk solids not fat, measured before sweeteners or bulky ingredients go in
- has at least 1.3 pounds of total solids per gallon
- weighs at least 4.0 pounds per gallon
South Dakota’s rule, 12:11:01:01.06, defines three products: frozen yogurt, lowfat frozen yogurt and nonfat frozen yogurt. It describes them as frozen dairy foods made from pasteurized milk fermented with L. bulgaricus, S. thermophilus and L. acidophilus.
So New Jersey names two cultures and South Dakota names three. South Dakota also sets out lowfat and nonfat versions by name. There is no single U.S. definition, and the rules a cup of frozen yogurt must meet depend on the state.
Fat and solids
The only milkfat floor in our sources comes from New Jersey: at least 3.25% before sweeteners and bulky ingredients. That is well under ice cream’s federal 10%.
USDA FoodData Central lists these values per 100 g:
- Frozen yogurt, flavors other than chocolate: 127 kcal, 3.6 g fat, 19.9 g sugars
- Vanilla soft-serve frozen yogurt: 159 kcal, 5.6 g fat, 24 g sugars
- Regular vanilla ice cream: 207 kcal, 11 g fat, 21.2 g sugars
These are listed values for typical products, not legal limits. A given brand can sit above or below them.
Air, weight and serving temperature
Overrun is the air whipped into the mix as it freezes. More air means a lighter pint. None of our sources gives an overrun figure for frozen yogurt, so we do not state one.
Weight is the closest clue. New Jersey requires at least 4.0 pounds per gallon. The federal ice cream rule requires 4.5 pounds per gallon, which caps ice cream’s overrun near 104% at a typical mix density (our arithmetic). A lower minimum weight leaves room for a lighter product.
On ice cream overrun, the sources do not line up. The Guelph e-Book gives about 100 to 120% for standard ice cream and 25 to 50% for super-premium, while our arithmetic from the federal weight rule puts the cap near 104%.
We found no sourced serving temperature for frozen yogurt. For ice cream, Guelph gives a typical serving temperature of about 3 °F (-16 °C).
How frozen yogurt is made
Under New Jersey’s rule, the dairy ingredients are pasteurized. All or part of the dairy is then cultured with live yogurt bacteria, and the mix is frozen while it is stirred. The stirred freeze is the same basic step used for ice cream. Guelph describes commercial ice cream as frozen in a barrel freezer, then hardened in a blast freezer at -30 to -40 °C (-22 to -40 °F). Our sources do not give a hardening step for frozen yogurt.
No rule in our sources sets an egg yolk limit for frozen yogurt. Ice cream under 21 CFR 135.110 must have less than 1.4% egg yolk solids.
Live cultures are voluntary to advertise. IDFA’s Live & Active Cultures seal lets yogurt and cultured dairy foods qualify with at least 100 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacture. Frozen yogurt has a lower bar: at least 10 million yogurt cultures per gram at the time of manufacture.
How much is made
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service counted 34.1 million gallons of frozen yogurt made in the United States in 2025, down 3.9% from 2024. National Frozen Yogurt Day falls on February 6 every year.